JEDDAH, 24 August 2006 — Health Minister Dr. Hamad Al-Manie is launching on Saturday the National Project for Combating Malaria. The campaign begins with the approach of rain season in the southern regions of the Kingdom where the highest cases of the mosquito-borne disease are reported.
The minister will launch the project in Al-Khawiya municipality in Jizan and then go to Asir region.
“The project is part of the ministry’s programmed efforts to extract and eliminate malaria from Saudi Arabia, which is among the strategic priorities of the ministry,” said ministry spokesman Khaled Mirghalani.
The project consists of spraying areas where the mosquito breeds and raising awareness among people. The spraying will cover several cities and municipalities in the southern regions of Jizan and Asir. The project also includes increasing the number of units for examining and treating the disease in the border region with Yemen, ten units in Jizan border region and eight in Asir.
Jizan has the highest number of malaria cases in the Kingdom. According to the ministry’s 2002 statistics, the number of reported cases was over 1,000 compared to the second highest number of cases in Makkah of around 300.
“The reason is due to the region’s environment and geography where the mosquito breeds in large numbers and it is difficult to control especially at the border with Yemen,” said Sulaiman Al-Fifi, director of the ministry’s malaria program. He said that the Saudi-Yemeni Committee for Combating Malaria was formed around seven years ago to coordinate efforts on both sides.
The campaign to combat malaria began in 1948 by Saudi Aramco and the ministry took over managing the campaign in 1952.
“What is new about this project is that it aims to completely eliminate malaria by controlling the spread and intensifying efforts where needed. We have had great success in combating the disease during the past five years. In 2005, we had the lowest reported number of cases and we hope this year will be even lower,” said Al-Fifi.
